Falling
by NuttyElla
Summary: It's a miniscule thing, really, just a tiny scar. But it contains her secret, and it may be the one thing that will keep her from getting the only thing she ever wanted...him.
1. I

**Disclaimer: **Go ahead--sue me. Then see what happens to your ratings.   
The song does not belong to me, although I wish it did.

**

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**They painted up your secrets**

""They don't know anything about her. They have no idea what she went through two years ago; how could they? To them, she didn't exist back then," Victoria said as she stared straight into the eyes of her husband.

"Exactly," Stuart responded. "They don't know, and they'll never find out. It's in the past; she's moved on from it."

Victoria began shaking her head. "It's not just in the past, Stuart. It's going to affect her entire future. Don't you get it? It hasn't really hit her yet, but it will. When the time comes, it will," She finished quietly.

**With the lies they told to you**

Jude reeled backwards from her position at the railing after hearing her parents' words. _It hasn't really hit her yet, **but it will**_. What on earth were they talking about?

_Two years ago_. What happened two years ago? Jude's eyes expanded as she realized what they must've been talking about. Slowly, she lifted the bottom of her shirt a few inches and pushed the top of her pants down a little bit, revealing the thin, silver scar across the very bottom of her abdomen.

No one saw it unless she specifically showed it to him or her, and only the people in her family and Kat knew about it. Jude never even told Jamie or Mason. It didn't show when she wore a bathing suit; at least, it didn't with show the ones she wore.

Jude lightly traced her finger across the mark, remembering what had previously been forgotten. Or rather, it wasn't exactly forgotten—more like buried. She received the scar over summer break, giving her time to heal without alerting every person she knew. Come fall, she was back in school again like normal, and no one at Carson Hill High School, save for Kat and Sadie, were any the wiser.

So what was up with her parents now? What didn't they tell her about the procedure? They had told her it was fine, everything was _fine_.

But now, it looks like it wasn't.  
**  
And the least they ever gave you**

Jude's parents had said everything was fine.

Fine.

Fine.

Fine.

Fine never actually meant _fine,_ though. How could she have been so blind? Why didn't she ask more questions? Why didn't she investigate it herself? Why did she leave it all to her parents?

Because she was young, and scared. Because she could still believe in her parents back then.

Unlike now.

They told her the bare minimum—she would be just_ fine_.

And Jude had accepted that statement, had _trusted_ in that statement.  
**  
Was the most you ever knew  
**  
So now, it was two years later, and Jude didn't know any more now than she did back then. Apparently, there was a lot that no one ever told her. There was a lot that they _still_ weren't telling her.

What does it mean when you can't take your parents' word for it anymore? They were her parents, for God's sake.

And they didn't tell her.

What—she didn't know. But Jude did plan on finding out.


	2. II

**And I wonder where these dreams go**

What happened? When did life become so…real? So harsh, and unforgiving? So…irreversible?

Leaning against the wall in the upstairs hallway, Jude thought about when she was ten-years-old and so completely, absolutely determined to be a rockstar. At ten, it was just a dream. And not a very realistic one, either. Everyone thought she'd grow out of it in a few years and pick a _real_ career path, like being a teacher.

Yet here she was. A rockstar. Or almost, anyways.

Jude's definition of a rockstar wasn't to go on tour and get wasted every other night. She didn't want to have the most recognizable face in the industry. All she really wanted was to make great music and be able to share it with people. But for people to know about her music, she had to be famous—hence, a rockstar.

A rockstar definitely wasn't a pop star, either. A pop star pleased the crowds with dance moves, flashy outfits, and cliché songs about heartbreak. Jude hadn't wanted to be a pop star. She had wanted to be a rockstar; she had wanted to be able to make a difference with her music. So today, she was a rockstar.

Wasn't she?

Had she gotten too caught up in releasing hit singles to please Darius and making the covers of illustrious magazines every month? Was her focus still on the music itself?

Jude didn't know.

In fact, she didn't even decide if she _wanted_ to know.  
**  
When the world gets in your way**

It was so easy to get sidetracked. Photoshoots, endorsement campaigns, tours, school, relationships…now she saw that the most important things were usually pushed to the back too often.

There was never enough time. And if there was enough time, she never had enough energy. Somebody always wanted something from Jude, and she had to deliver, otherwise her dream of being a true rockstar would be gone. Jude kept telling herself that once she had herself established, she would do things _her_ way, and on _her_ time.

Shows how much she actually knew about the "biz."

Life was hard enough without having to try and live it with millions of people watching. Make a mistake, and everyone would know about it 24 hours later. Have a _really_ bad hair day and get caught by the paparazzi? Your album sales drop. So maybe that was a bit extreme, but basically the media controlled everything. And if it wasn't bad enough to get slammed by the public, the boss got on your case, too.

There was only so much weight that could be put upon her shoulders before she'd break. She was slumping—staggering beneath the weight at this point. So what did she do?

Jude told them to just keep piling it on, she could take it.

She hoped.  
**  
What's the point in all this screaming**

Jude didn't realize that she'd zoned out until the raised voices of her parents caught her attention once again.

"I always thought a marriage was a partnership and involved compromising! Why do you always get to make the final decision, Stuart? I'm in this relationship, too, you know!" Victoria shouted, the previously contained anger started to boil up with every word.

"Vicky—" Stuart attempted to interrupt in a still semi-calm voice.

"No! I'm not finished. Everything's always about you! You, you, _you!_ Yeah, well what about me?" She spat as Jude's hands clenched even tighter around the balustrades she was peeking through.

Stuart's brow crumpled in confusion? "What do you mean?"

"When will it be my turn to have a little fun on the side?" Victoria snarled at her husband.

By now Jude had squeezed her eyes shut, but she knew how pale her father's face would be right now if she dared to look at him. Looked like the cat was out of the bag, and here Jude and Sadie were worried about their mom finding out about the affair when she apparently already knew.

"Honey—"

"No! I don't want—"

"—it was a mistake."

"—to hear—"

"Please, Vicky, lis—"

"—it!"

"Let's just calm down and be civ—"

The stems of Jude's earrings dug into the tender flesh behind her ears as she clamped her palms against the sides of her head, trying to block out the sound waves of her disintegrating family as it continued to crumble around her.  
**  
No one's listening anyway**


	3. III

**Your voice is small and fading**

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no, no, NO!"

No matter how hard she tried, Jude couldn't block out the harsh words of her arguing parents. If she could, she would rip out her ears and revel in the ensuing silence, the relief.

"She needs to know!" Victoria shouted, her chest heaving with the exertion of fighting for the past several minutes.

Stuart shook his head, as equally incensed as his wife but better able to mask it. "I think we should wait a bit longer."

"A bit longer? And how long would that be? Is a bit longer the same amount of time that you're going to keep screwing that whore behind my back?"

"Don't bring that into this," Stuart chided with a heavy sigh. "We're discussing Jude, here, not me."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Of course! The **one** time I actually do want to make something about _you_, and you change the topic."

"Please stop fighting…" Jude whimpered from her crouched position on the floor.

But they couldn't hear her.  
**  
And you hide in here unknown**

With her arms cradling her knees, Jude rocked back and forth, wishing she was a young child again and her parents could comfort her. But what did she do when they were the ones causing the pain?

Stuart and Victoria kept at it, their youngest daughter's presence at the top of the stairs unbeknownst to them as they fired caustic words at each other. Angry accusations blended into incomprehensible sounds, the emotions behind the words were enough to convey their meaning.

"Stop it, just stop it!" Jude's voice cracked barely above a whisper, hoarse from silent crying and the effort to contain her sobs.

And almost as though they actually did hear her, the altercation ceased, leaving an eerie silence to fill the air still crackling with the recently released fury. A door slammed, Jude could only assume that her father had retreated into his office as she heard the sounds of her mother's poorly concealed weeping. After a few minutes, the sniveling stopped and Jude could hear the shrill beeps of the buttons on the cordless phone.

**And your mother loves your father**

"Hi…" Victoria's voice gave away on the simple word and Jude flinched as she felt her mother's pain. "Mmhmm….Yeah….I don't know, I just _don't_ know." A lengthy pause. "I can't, Karen…..Why?" The bitter, harsh sound of her mother's mocking laughter startled Jude. She'd never heard her laugh like that before. Victoria's laughter had almost always been genuine, and pure. She chuckled or giggled when something was funny but remained silent when something wasn't amusing. Laughter wasn't supposed to be associated with anger, or pain, or hurt. At least not in the Harrison household…if there even was one anymore.

Jude tried to mold herself into the wall even more as she heard her mother's raised voice. "What do you want me to say? Karen, don't you get it? Even after everything he's done and everything we've been through….I still love him," Victoria finished in a hush, almost as though it was wrong for a wife to admit to loving her husband.

Her adulterous husband.

Jude still couldn't grasp it. Her father, her **_father_**—a cheater. If he was unfaithful to his wife, what did that mean for his children? Could Stuart's daughters trust him any more?

"….I-I don't think I can, sis," Victoria confessed. "I've been with him for two decades, we have two daughters--I can't leave him. What in the world would I do? He's been a part of my life for so long that I'd be lost without him. I can't start over, I don't think I remember how to…"  
**  
'Cause she's got nowhere to go**


	4. IV

**  
They press their lips against you**

As Jude heard her mother's footsteps retreat into the kitchen, she timidly tip-toed down the stairs, taking care not to make any noise and alert anyone of her presence. But her efforts were futile—when Jude was two steps from the floor, the door to the office opened, revealing her disheveled father.

"Jude?" Stuart asked, surprise splayed across his face. "What are you doing here? I thought you would be at school by now."

Much to her dismay, Jude's bottom lip began to tremble. She bit it, hard, trying to stop the waterworks that she knew were coming. True to physics, though—apply enough pressure, and eventually everything will crack.

"Oh, sweetheart," Stuart said as he rushed over to his youngest daughter who had collapsed onto the steps. He sat down next to her and placed an arm across her back. Jude flinched at the contact, but Stuart didn't remove his arm. Instead, he even went so far as to kiss the top of his daughter's head, pressing his lips into the fire engine red of his daughter's stick straight hair.

"Who are you talking to, Stuart?" Victoria's voice came from the kitchen but grew louder as she undoubtedly walked towards the living room. "It better not be your little sl—Jude? Why are you at home? Don't you have school?"

With her head on her knees, Jude could imagine the look her father shot to her mother perfectly. Within seconds, another arm was touching her back, except from the other side this time. Victoria began rubbing small, comforting circles on Jude's lower back, and she instantly felt a little calmer at her mother's touch. Gently, Victoria placed a soft kiss on the side of her daughter's head, just like she used to do when Jude was a baby.

As a pregnant silence ensued, Jude didn't need to look up to know her parents were communicating with each other about her solely through glances. Finally, Stuart disturbed the empty air around the three of them.  
**  
And you love the lies they say**

"You heard us, didn't you?"

Jude couldn't decide how she wanted to respond. Finally, she muttered, "It was kind of hard not to."

A pair of sighs surrounded Jude and she suddenly felt trapped, like a caged animal in the circus--always on display, always doing what someone else wanted, and all for the sake of someone's sick idea of entertainment.

But Jude was no slave.

"We're sorry, honey. You shouldn't have had to listen to us; you weren't supposed to," Victoria replied, but the words were hollow and meaningless to Jude.

"Everything's going to be fine," Stuart reassured. "Promise."

Sorry. Fine. Promise.

_Bullshit._

"No, it's not," Jude whispered before she shook off her parents' limbs and rushed for the front door. As the door clicked shut behind her, Jude couldn't help but imagine that she had just experienced the ending of one part of her life and the beginning of another. It was like they always said—where one door closes, another one opens.

So where was the other one? Jude sure as hell didn't see it.

**What's the point in ever trying**

Cars flew past, whipping Jude's hair around and causing some strands to get stuck on her lips. She didn't remove them, though. What was the point? They'd just be blown back again in a few minutes.

The air was chilly, but not bitter cold, for which Jude was thankful since all she had on was a light jacket. The sky was overcast and everything looked gray.

Gray.

Dead and gray.

Gray and dead.

Dead.

Pretty much like her family.  
**  
Nothing's changing anyway**


	5. V

_**my apologies for the wait. but you get two updates tonight and two tomorrow night. hopefully that will make up for it? i love you guys, you're great! thanks for reading and enjoying, i hope you continue to do so!**_

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**And she wonders where these dreams go**

She sat across the street on a cold, hard bench, staring at the building that contained her sanctuary. It was nothing special, really, just concrete, steel, and paint, but it was her haven when everything else was spiraling into oblivion down the whirlpool known as her life. Jude knew what this place was and what it meant to her. What she couldn't figure out, though, was why she wasn't going inside of it.

Was it possible that G Major wasn't all she had thought it to be? After all, it was a simply a business whose sole goal was to make a profit. So a place where Jude once found solace was also a place where other people came for money. Same place, different perspectives.

How many other things in Jude's life did that hold true for? Was she seeing things as they actually were, or how she wanted them to be?

"You know that no matter how long you stare at it, the hideous orange color isn't going to go away?" A voice interrupted Jude's thoughts.

She nodded and absently replied, "Yeah."

Tommy noticed her distantness and asked, "How are you doing? Everything okay?"

"Absolutely," Jude answered, silently adding a _"not"_ in her head. But he didn't need to know that.

"_Liar, liar,"_ Tommy mocked in his head, easily catching Jude's fib. He knew now wasn't the time to confront her, though, so he said, "Do you want to go record, then? Or we can just sit out here for the rest of the day, staring at a building until we go colorblind; that'd be fine, too. Whatever you want to do, Big Eyes."

A sly, although half-hearted, smirk crept onto Jude's face.

Tommy's earlier teasing tone immediately disappeared as a wary one replaced it. "I shouldn't have said that, huh?"

A genuine grin finally found its way onto Jude's face. She whipped her head back and forth, causing her straw-colored curls to bounce around wildly and giving Tommy the impression that she was an innocent little five-year-old girl again.

But he knew better.

**'Cause the world got in her way**

Jude was anything but innocent these days. Her innocence still existed, but it was buried beneath so much bitter scorn and hidden by her jaded exterior that almost no one knew about it anymore.

He knew, though.

"So? What do you want to do today?" Tommy asked again.

Jude's eyes shot towards the parking lot of G Major and picked out a specific vehicle among the many parked there.

Tommy followed her gaze and immediately closed his eyes, saying a silent prayer. Opening them again, he found himself looking back into two familiar cornflower blue eyes. "You sure, Jude? Because we can do anything—seriously, _anything_—else that you want to."

She just rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand before dragging him across the street. Tommy felt movement at the top of his thigh and looked down just in time to see Jude's hand emerge from his jeans' pocket with a set of car keys in hand.

Oh, the things he'd do for this girl.

**  
And I tried so hard to reach you**

The wind tousled her hair, whipping it chaotically around her head. Despite the chilly weather, they had the top on the Viper down as Jude smoothly maneuvered Tommy's car around the gentle curves of the deserted rural road. Tommy didn't know where they were going, and he truly didn't care as long as Jude was sitting right beside him.

Jude's face began to relax as she drove, the tires eating up the miles as they rolled beneath her. Inwardly she smiled; Tommy was so touchy about his mileage.

"Jude?" Tommy questioned softly.

"Hmm?" She answered absentmindedly, her full attention still focused on the road.

He was a silent a minute before he continued. "Where are we going?"

Jude took her eyes away from the road for a fraction of a section to turn and smile at Tommy.

He waited.

"Jude?"

She gently bit her lip before quietly replying, "I don't know." It took some effort on his part, but Tommy managed to keep his face impassive. "Is that a problem, Quincy?"

"Only if we run out of gas, Harrison," Tommy responded, a lazy smile creeping onto his face as well.

Eventually Jude pulled into a small park. There were no other cars or people around; she liked it better that way.

Tommy and Jude exited the car and stretched their legs for a couple of minutes. When Tommy looked up not long after, he found that Jude had left the side of the car and wandered off towards the swing set near the trees at the edge of the park.

She lowered herself into a swing and lifted her feet from the ground. As she began slowly swaying back and forth, Tommy came over and plopped into the seat next to hers. Together, they just sat there, rocking back and forth as the wind played with their hair.

"Hey, Jude?"

"Yeah?" She placed her feet down, halting the movement of her swing.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked tentatively, unsure of how she would react to the loaded question.

Jude froze for a split second before getting out of the swing and walking towards the trees. She stopped, turned, and motioned for Tommy to join her. A couple of seconds passed before he complied.

Standing next to each other, Jude grasped Tommy's right hand in her left. Staring him in the eye, she said, "Do you trust me?"

"As long as you still believe in me," he replied, looking back into her eyes.

Before another word could be spoken, Jude leaned backward, pulling Tommy down with her. With a multitude of tiny crunches, they fell into a pile of brown, orange, lemon, and crimson leaves.

After a few seconds of just lying there, Jude quietly whispered, "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."  


But you're falling anyway


	6. 2x1

_**WARNING: mature content ahead. it doesn't cross the line, but it might come close. please, if you're not ready, don't read it. PM me and i'll send you a summary.**_

_**also, there's a time jump in this part in case it's not clear in the story. just wanted to make sure that was clear.**_

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2.1

"I…just want…you...to…know that—" he spoke in between desperate kisses on Jude's neck until she interrupted him.

"Tommy?"

He paused for a second, but his head was still lodged between Jude's jaw line and shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Just shut up," Jude commanded, grabbing his hair and pulling his head up until their lips met, their mutual lust taking over all reason.

Stumbling down the darkened hallway, Jude felt her back ram into various objects—tables, chairs, hat stands, she didn't really know or care what they were. She just wanted to get out of the hallway and into a place that was a little more…comfortable, and spacious.

"You _do_ have a bedroom somewhere in this maze of a house, right Quincy?"

Jude could barely distinguish the outline of his smirk as his face hovered a few inches away from her own. "Someone's impatient, hmm?" He teased, slowly sliding his hands down her arms.

"It took us seven years to get to where we are right now, Tommy. Do you _really_ want to prolong it any longer?" She shot back lightly, although her words were actually serious. Patience may be a virtue, but at this point she really didn't give a damn.

In answer, Tommy's hands locked on her waist before he slung her over his left shoulder. Before Jude could even catch her breath, he was practically running through an endless number of doors and hallways before finally halting in front of a pair of double doors. Without the slightest hesitation, Tommy jammed his foot into the doors and they swung open to reveal what Jude presumed to be his bedroom.

A few more strides, and Jude felt herself being lifted from his shoulders and tossed onto the bed. The king-sized bed, of course.

"That better?"

Before Jude had a chance to answer, Tommy was on top of her, reclaiming her mouth after the minute when they were apart. Lord, she'd never realized that a tongue could do so many things. After a couple of minutes of some serious making out, Jude got tired of being on the bottom and flipped the two of them over. Although a bit surprised, Tommy continued to assault her mouth as his hands began to roam her upper body. It wasn't long until he reversed their positions again, effectively putting Jude back on the bottom.

It soon became a game between the two of them, a battle of dominance. Tommy and Jude ended up rolling back and forth, each working to be the one on top, only to be defeated by the other over and over again. And throughout everything, their mouths never detached from each other.

Out of nowhere, Tommy landed on his back against the floor next to his bed with Jude collapsing on top of him as well. Dazed, the two of them stopped kissing.

"Oh my God," Jude managed to get out before laughter consumed her body.

Tommy chuckled slightly too, although he didn't think it was quite as funny as Jude did. He was the one that was on the bottom, therefore being the one to land on the hard floor, where as Jude had him as a nice cushion for her fall. He'd never admit it, but falling off the bed and having her land on top of him actually hurt. A lot.

"I don't think any girl has ever been that eager to leave my bed before," Tommy remarked blandly, watching in amusement as Jude's eyes widened slightly before she burst into laughter again.

She slithered up his body until her lips resided right next to Tommy's ear, whispering, "Well, I don't think I need to tell you that there's a first time for everything."

And with that, she rolled off of Tommy and stood up.

His brow knit together in confusion. "What are you doing? Come back down here; I liked having you on top of me."

"Oh, really?" Jude replied as she raised her eyebrows. "So that's why you were so adamant to be on top a few minutes ago when we were kissing on the bed."

He grinned boyishly, unconsciously endearing himself to Jude even more. "What can I say? I only just recently became accustomed to the idea of being on the bottom after feeling you on top of me."

Jude laughed, her smile lighting up her already glowing face. "Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. You can be on top first, but then it'll be _my_ turn. Okay?"

"Fine. Just come back down here already, please?" Tommy begged, although he was truthfully enjoying the view he had of being on the floor below Jude. The angle of her silhouette from the moonlight streaming through the window just seemed to highlight all of her curves even more, making him even more aware of the strain against his jeans.

"Now who's impatient?" she mocked, using his word from earlier in the evening.

"Me. So what's it going to take to get you back down here again?" Tommy asked, honestly believing his body was going through withdrawals for not being in physical contact with her for over a minute.

Jude gave an over-exaggerated shrug, peeking at Tommy over her shoulder. "I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a bit…hot."

"And bothered?" He immediately supplied, already knowing the answer.

"You could say that," Jude said slyly. "But mainly, I just want to get out of these clothes. I feel so…constricted with them on."

Tommy seemed to visibly perk up at her last remarks. "Oh? Do you want some helping taking them off, then?"

"Actually, I'd rather help you with yours, first."

"Is that so?" he asked, wondering when Jude had morphed into such a sex kitten. Oh, yeah—a couple of minutes ago when she had practically jumped his bones as soon as he had unlocked the door to his empty house.

"Mmhmm," Jude answered, nodding her head. "But you'll have to get up first."

Tommy broke his gaze with Jude to glance down the length of his body before finally locking eyes with her once again. "I believe I already am, in case you haven't noticed."

"Believe me, I noticed," Jude said with a laugh, letting Tommy give his ego a bit of a boost; she'd be knocking it down soon enough.

"So what's it going to be, loverboy?" she questioned as her teeth lightly dug into her bottom lip. "Are you going to help me, or do I have to do it all myself?"

"What kind of a gentleman would I be if I refused to offer assistance to a lady in need?" Tommy replied as he picked himself up off the floor.

"You? A gentleman? Ple—" Her playful retort was quickly cut off by his lips at the same time as she felt articles of clothing being removed from her body. The rest of their conversation was forgotten as emotions took over and they let themselves go with the night.


	7. 2x2

**_eeeek! i meant to post this days ago but...i forgot. whoopsies. i'm so sorry. good news, though, is that i should be able to work on the next part within the next few days!! so something to look forward to?_**

**_i hope you all enjoy this chapter! _**

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**2.2**

The morning after, he stroked her blonde curls, marveling in their softness, while she slept peacefully beside him. Or rather, she slept half on top of him, a leg careless thrown across his own and her head nestled comfortable on his chest.

"It's not from beer," she mumbled sleepily, her breath warm and moist against his skin.

Tommy's hand froze mid-stroke at the sound of her voice. Rehearsing the words in his head, it took him a couple of moments to understand what she was actually saying. Once it clicked, he chuckled and continued to caress her hair.

After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, Jude finally picked up her head and locked eyes with her lover.

Yes, her lover. There was definitely no question about that after last night. Sure, it had taken them seven years since they first met to reach this point, but they did reach it eventually.

"You want some breakfast?" he asked, smiling lazily, clearly content with his performance from the night before and her obvious satisfaction.

"Nope," she replied with an insinuating look, "but I know of something else I want…"

The sex kitten was back.

Sitting up, Jude maneuvered her body so that she was now straddling Tommy. She didn't bother covering her torso or anything else with a sheet. Any modesty she previously had around him was thrown out the window last night as they completely exposed themselves to the other, physically and emotionally.

"And people think guys are the ones that think about sex 24/7," Tommy muttered, although a large grin had already spread across his face.

Jude laughed, the sunlight streaming through the window making her eyes sparkle. It was so cliché, but Tommy couldn't help feeling transfixed. Damn, look at what that girl turned him into—corny and cheesy.

She leaned forward and lightly brushed her lips against his, but quickly pulled away before things could escalate farther. The previous night, kissing had obviously led to other things, and those other things had made it uncomfortable for Jude to be able to walk this morning…which is why she wanted to stay in bed for a while longer.

As she straightened back up, he pouted. Jude just rolled her eyes and began to stretch, reaching her arms above her head and arching her back. Just like she knew he would, Tommy stopped moping at the chaste kiss and decided to enjoy the view, backlit by a bright morning sun.

He glanced from her slender fingers down her toned arms to her face, still aglow in the aftermath of last night's events. Her eyes were closed and a small smile played upon her lips, and even with her hair all mussed up, she was still the only sight Tommy would want to wake up to every single day for the rest of his life.

Wait, what?

Hastily shoving the thought to the side, his eyes continued to venture down her body. Smooth neck, small but firm breasts, flat abdomen...something caught Tommy's eyes, and he squinted, trying to get a better look.

A finger caressing her lower stomach snapped Jude's eyes open. Looking down, she saw Tommy's callused finger—who else's would it be?—tracing a small spot back and forth, back and forth.

"What's this from?" he innocently asked, clearly not realizing the implications of his simple question on Jude.

Should she tell him the truth? Tell him about one of the things that tore her parents apart? Reveal the one fact that had caused her the most pain out of everything in her life?

"Oh, nothing important," Jude replied nonchalantly, praying he wouldn't try and dig more information out of her about it.

And just to make sure that was the end of Tommy's questions, she leaned forward once again, firmly pressing her lips against his. She didn't retreat this time—partly because he had clamped an arm across her back, fully preventing her from doing so even if she wanted to (which she didn't)—and once again, kissing led to other things…


	8. 2x3

_**i can't wait to start reading everyone's speculations...next chapter should be the explanation. i think.**_

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**2.3**

"Oh my God," she blurted out once he had rolled off of her and she could breath again. "That…was amazing. We should do it again…and again…and again…"

Tommy groaned. "Seriously? You're ready to do all of that again _already_? Christ. Give me a break. Hell, give Tommy Jr. a break. You really know how to wear him out."

"Don' tell me you're getting old, Quincy," she teased, fighting back bouts of laughter.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Harrison? Because you _really_ don't want to go there, _trust_me…"

She smirked. "Is that so? Because I think I _do_ want to go there."

Tommy's eyes practically popped out of his head as he growled, "You know what? It looks like Tommy Jr. is ready for round, what, si—_shit!_"

The playful smile disappeared from Jude's still glowing face. "What, Tommy?" His mouth just opened and closed like a fish's. "Dammit, what's wrong? Say something, you're really freaking me out here…"

"I-I…you…we d-didn't…" His eyes were as round as saucers, and for the first time since she had met him, Jude thought Tommy looked scared. Like, really scared.

She threw her hands around, trying to comprehend what he was trying to say. "What? We didn't wha—oh….oh!"

Even though she'd already made the connection, Tommy was finally able to state what had just caused him so much discomfort, to put it mildly. "We didn't use protection…"

"Yeah…" Jude replied, not really sure what to say.

At this point he was barely looking at her because he seemed to be convinced that all of the answers to this predicament were blatantly located on the wall behind Jude. "I mean, well, we _did_ use protection last night…just not this morning…but it was only twice, so what are the chances that you'd get pregnant from—"

She'd had enough of his rambling. "Tommy!"

"What?" He answered, finally broken out of his daze by her stern voice.

"I'm not…pregnant…"

"What? You can't know that. We didn't use a condom this morning, so it's still a definite possibility."

"Hey, listen to me for a sec—" She tried to get a word in edgewise, but he was in full on freak out mode.

"But if you are, that's ok. It'd be okay. We'd raise him—or her—and be a family together and everything would be fine, just fine—"

Tommy's senseless words were cut off by Jude's mouth being presses against his. As she pulled back, he blinked.

"Are you going to listen to me now, Tommy?"

He nodded. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Okay then. Look, I'm not pregnant."

He didn't say anything for a minute, but Jude watched as a semblance of realization dawned on his face.

"I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" Tommy yelled, more to himself than to Jude. "You're on the pill, right? That's why you can't be pregnant. God, I can't believe I didn't even ask. Well, I get why I didn't ask last night since we were kind of, um, preoccupied, but…wow. That's such a relief."

Confusion flitted across Jude's face before she finally realized this was her way out of telling him. Of course—the pill. Why didn't she think of it before?

"Yeah, I'm…on the pill," Jude said rather blandly, but Tommy didn't seem to notice. He was just relieved that she wasn't going to be popping out a baby in nine months and he'd suddenly be a father and have to change smelly diapers in the middle of the night.

"Well in that case, I don't think we should stop practicing just in case you decide you want to have a baby one day…in the far, far future," he implied, crawling over Jude and pushing her back down onto the mattress.

"Yeah, if I ever want one…" Jude softly said in a sad voice not loud enough for Tommy to hear before kissing led to other things…again.


End file.
